Graphene is called a single hexagonal carbon layer, that is, a single (0001) plane layer of graphite. It is known that this graphene has more excellent physical properties than a carbon nanotube (CNT).
Generally, graphene is obtained by mechanically detaching it from high crystalline graphite. In this case, it is known that this graphene is detached therefrom using scotch tapes, mechanical methods [B. Z. Jang et al., Nano-scaled Graphite Plates, U.S. Pat. No. 7,071,258 B1] or electrostatic methods [A. N Sidorov et al., Electrostatic Deposition of Graphene, Nanotechnology 18 (2007) 135301]. In this case, graphene is obtained in the form of a free-standing film.
Further, there is a method of epitaxially depositing graphene by thermally decomposing single crystal silicon carbide [W. A. d. Heer, Epitaxial Graphene, Solid State Communication 143 (2007) 92-100]. In this method, graphene is adhered in parallel on silicon carbide.
In addition to the above, several researchers have reported their research results on “graphene synthesis”. However, here, graphene has a structure including several tens to several hundreds layers [Prakash et al., Planar Nano-graphenes from Camphor by CVD, Chemical Physics Letters 430 (2006) 56-59]. The graphene having such a structure corresponds to nano-sized graphite rather than graphene.
As such, conventionally, it is impossible to synthesize graphene which is chemically bonded with a matrix (or epitaxially grown) and is vertically oriented on the matrix.